Bill targets sexually oriented business
Published Feb. 23, 2007
A spokesman for a Missouri lawmaker said that Missouri would appear less "seedy" if a new bill becomes law.
The bill would raise the age limit to enter a sexually explicit business, regulate the businesses' hours and prohibit such establishments from serving alcohol.
Sen. Matt Bartle, R-Lee's Summit, is sponsoring the new bill, which would put additional restrictions on both zoning and business practices of sexually explicit businesses. This would include cabarets, strip clubs and other establishments that provide adult services.
"It does not help the image of the state of Missouri when you see billboards lining the roads or tin sheds with "Triple X" painted on them," Bartle's Chief of Staff Todd Scott said. "We would like to invite tourists here. We have made a lot of efforts to promote Missouri as a family-friendly state. These signs and businesses just give a rather seedy look to the state."
Sophomore Elliott Cade, who moved to Columbia from Houston, said that the presence of sexually explicit advertisements and businesses hasn't changed his opinion of the state.
"There are certainly ads for porn shops, strip clubs and sex stores in Houston too," Cade said. "They're kind of fun to look at and kind of fun to laugh at."
Cade said the presence of the signs and businesses doesn't change his opinion about the state and if they were overregulated, he might be dismayed.
Specific provisions in the bill would raise the required age of both patrons and employees of these businesses from 18 to 21. Scott said that there is some discrepancy about the ages of majority for specific activities across the country.
"The age of majority ages from 16 to get a driver's license in some states to 18 to vote to 21 to drink," Scott said. "If the current law says you need to be 21 to drink alcohol, certainly being a performer in an adult industry is a weightier decision."
Those below the age of 21 would be breaking the law if they went into such an institution, unless they were working on repairs or delivering products to the venue.
The bill would also restrict business hours, requiring operations to close on Sundays and state holidays, as well as to be closed between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m. on other days.
The bill also, "prohibits the Supervisor of the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control from issuing a liquor license to a sexually-oriented business."
Adult entertainment venues in Columbia, such as Club Vogue, are generally open well into the early hours of the evening. Club Vogue is open during the week from 7 p.m. until 2:30 or 3 a.m., and until 4 p.m. on Saturdays. The club is already closed on Sundays.
Cade has been to Club Vogue when the club hosts "College Night," which allows local students admission for $1 when they present a student ID. He said that a person should be able to choose whether he or she goes to a strip club on any day of the week.
But Bartle's office disagrees and would prefer to see the businesses regulated more similar to a conventional business with daytime hours, according to the bill.
"Twelve hours a day is enough for a business," Scott said. "It's not an infringement on their rights if you give them five or six days with over 40 hours a week to be open."
The bill would also label structures used for purposes of "lewdness and assignation" as public nuisances.
The bill's language was adopted from a New York State Supreme Court case, and other similar rulings have been upheld across the country.
"You can look at porn when you're 18, so you might as well be able to go to strip clubs when you're 18," Cade said. "It's a little more up-close and personal, but you're not engaging in a sexual act. The age of consent for sex is 18, so why shouldn't the age for strip clubs also be 18?"